Lyle, John / Hard Cover Virgins

Confirmed

Lyle, John

Title: Hard Cover Virgins
Format: LP
Label: Cactus Records (no number)
Year: 1978
Origin: Surrey, British Columbia
Genre: folk, psych
Keyword:
Value of Original Title: $100.00
Mp3 Album Price: $7.99 Add Mp3 Album to Cart
Release Type: Albums
Rooms: 1970's, British Columbia, Folk
Confirmed

Tracks

Side - 1

Track NumberTrack NamePlay MP3Mp3 Price 
1Blood River (Lyle & Macpherson) $0.79
2Life Is a Breeze (Lyle & Murray) $0.79
3Blue Pictures (Lyle) $0.79
4My Addled Essence (Lyle) $0.79
5Water Works (Lyle) $0.79
6My Cold Is Gone (Lyle) $0.79

Side - 2

Track NumberTrack NamePlay MP3Mp3 Price 
1Native Son of the First Cause (Lyle) $0.79
2Wonderin' (Lyle)
3Gunfight at the Occult Corral (Lyle) $0.79
4The Plot Widens (Lyle) $0.79
5The Woo Woo Into Town (Lyle) $0.79
6Don't String Up the Throwback (Turn Him Loose in Ontario) (Lyle) $0.79
7Close Your Eyes (Lyle & Murray) $0.79

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Review

The note scribbled upon the shrink wrap of the album that was perched upon my typewriter when I walked in one morning a few weeks ago said, ‘How about a review for my record?’ and it was signed John Lyle.

Seems like a reasonable request. We do that kind of thing all the time at the (Georgia) Straight, don’t you know? I don’t know much about John Lyle except that he recorded this album all by himself with the help of a few friends and is handling the distribution and promotion independently. The lp’s called ‘Hard Cover Virgins’ (get the pun?) and the amateurish cover art warns that Lyle ‘makes the Sex Pistols sound like music.’

The equally haphazard back cover has the lyrics printed for you perusal and they hint at the irreverence of the man-he’s at once a cornball and an overwhelmingly self-conscious cynic. The songs have promise but the inconsistency of this budget production ruins a few good ideas or at least does not show off Lyle’s strong songs to their best advantage. There’s a lot of lame humour and aggravating asides thrown in that might have seemed like a good idea at the time but barely hold up after the first listening, never mind a second.

Having said that, I’d like to point out that with a little more thought this could be a really pleasant album to listen to. It has a nice folksiness and enough original wit to give Lyle’s songs-which are in a middle of the road folk/country/pop vein-some character. Likewise John Lyle has a fine voice with fairly distinctive phrasing. But the in jokes and other bits just clutter the lp. ‘Life Is A Breese’ might make a solid MOR single.
Tom Harrison Georgia Straight, 1978
"I may have over-reacted." - Tom Harrison email to John Lyle, 2007

Personnel:
John Lyle: guitar, vocals, and tambourine
John Murray (Papa Bear's Medicine Show, The Poppy Family): guitar, bass
Derek Stephenson: bass
Brian Hilton: drums, piano, anvil
Gary MacPhearson: guitar, vocals
Duane Ford: piano

buy this album here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lylejohn8

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  • John Lyle - Hard Cover Virgins

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